Richard N Zare (Professor)

Personal bioRichard N. Zare is the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science at Stanford University with an appointment in the Department of Chemistry and a courtesy appointment in the Department of Physics. He is a graduate of Harvard University, where he received his B.A. degree in chemistry and physics in 1961 and his Ph.D. in chemical physics in 1964. In 1965 he became an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but moved to JILA, University of Colorado at Boulder in 1966, remaining there until 1969 while holding joint appointments in the departments of chemistry, and physics and astrophysics. In 1969 he was appointed to a full professorship in the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University, becoming the Higgins Professor of Natural Science in 1975. In 1977 he moved to Stanford University where he has been chair of the chemistry department from 2004 to 2011. He has also been active in public service, serving on the National Science Board, the policy-setting body of the National Science Foundation from 1992 to 1998, the last two years as its chair. Professor Zare is an enthusiastic and dedicated teacher who has taught one form or another of freshman chemistry almost every year he has been at Stanford University. His efforts in teaching and mentoring have been recognized by various awards including Stanfordâ??s university-wide highest award for undergraduate teaching. Zare is also renowned for his research in the area of lasers applied to chemical reactions and to chemical analysis. He is the recipient of the National Medal of Science in 1983 the Welch Award in Chemistry in 1999, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 2005, the Priestley Medal of the American Chemical Society in 2010, the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Basic Sciences in 2010, and the King Faisal International Prize in Science in 2011 . He has trained over one hundred graduate students who have received their Ph.D. degrees. For more information, see
http://www.stanford.edu/group/Zarelab.